Laws and Rule on Adoption and Child Care

Section 1

This Act shall be entitled as the "Foundling Recognition and Protection Act".

Sec 2

The State values the dignity of every human being and guarantees full respect for human rights. A child has the same general human rights as an adult, with specific rights that recognize specific needs. As such, the State shall protect the rights and ensure access to assistance, including proper care, nutrition and special protection from all forms of neglect, abuse, cruelty, exploitation and other conditions prejudicial to the development of every child. The State shall uphold the best interests of the child, including and especially the child with distinct vulnerabilities, such as the neglected, stateless, and abandoned or deserted, by proactively and diligently inquiring into the facts of the child's birth and parentage. It recognizes the generally accepted thrust of international law to reduce and prevent statelessness. It shall protect any child with unknown parents by ensuring a natural-born citizen status consistent with our Constitution, the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and other relevant instruments, and the generally accepted principles of international law. The State shall also adopt measures to ensure that support services are provided to foundlings and acts inimical to their welfare are penalized. In furtherance of the State policy to create one body to exercise all powers and functions relating to alternative child care, State services relating to the protection and welfare of foundlings shall be placed under the National Authority for Child Care (NACC).

Sec 3

For purposes of this Act, s foundling shall be a deserted or abandoned child or infant with unknown facts of birth and parentage. This shall also include those who have been duly registered as a foundling during her or his infant childhood, but have reached the age of majority without benefitting from adoption procedures upon the passage of this law.

Sec 4

The finder shall be a person of legal age who discovered the deserted or abandoned child: Provided, That if the actual finder is a minor, his or her parent or legal guardian shall assist in making the report. The finder shall report within forty-48 (48) hours upon discovery of the child to inform the Local Social Welfare and Development Office (LSWDO), closest to him/her, or any safe haven provider, which shall in turn coordinate with the NACC through the Regional Alternative Child Care Office (RACCO), for the provision of appropriate care and services in line with the foundling's needs and best interest. In case the finder/s apply to become foster parent/s of the foundling, the NACC shall prioritize the assessment if they meet the qualifications under Republic Act No. 10165, or the "Foster Care Act of 2012".

Section 22

The DSWD, in coordination with the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), the Department of Education (DepEd), the Department of Health (DOH), various national leagues of local government units, the Council for the Welfare of Children (CWC), and the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), shall disseminate to the public information regarding this Act and its implementation.

Section 23

The Secretary, after due consultation with the PSA, the DILG, the Department of Justice (DOJ), and the CWC, together with representatives from the Association of Local Civil Registrars, child-caring and child-placing agencies, and child’s rights civil society organizations, shall issue rules and regulations for the effective implementation of this Act within sixty (60) days from its effectivity.

Section 24

Section 22 of Republic Act No. 8552 is hereby repealed. All other laws, decrees, letters of instruction, executive issuances, resolutions, orders or parts thereof which are inconsistent with the provisions of this Act are hereby repealed, modified, or amended accordingly.

Section 25

If any provision or part of this Act is declared unconstitutional or invalid, the remaining parts or provisions not affected shall remain in full force and effect.

Section 26

This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its publication in the Official Gazette or in a newspaper of general circulation. Inter-Country Adoption Act of 1995 RA No 8043 07 June 1995 AN ACT ESTABLISHING THE RULES TO GOVERN INTER-COUNTRY ADOPTION OF FILIPINO CHILDREN, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES

Sec 55

The NACC, in coordination with the DILG, Department of Education (DepEd), Department of Justice (DOJ), Department of Health (DOH), Council for the Welfare of Children (CWC), Philippine Information Agency (PIA), Civil Service Commission (CSC), GSIS, Association of Child Caring Agencies of the Philippines (ACCAP), Leagues of Cities and Municipalities of the Philippines, NGOs focused on child care, and the media, shall disseminate to the public information regarding this Act and its implementation and ensure that adoption and alternative child care are portrayed on mass media truthfully and free from stigma and discrimination. The PIA shall strive to rectify mass media portrayals that adopted children are inferior to other children, and shall enjoin the Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster ng Pilipinas, all print media, and various social media platforms to disseminate positive information on adoption. The DOH shall ensure that hospital workers are knowledgeable on adoption processes and the criminal liability attached to the act of simulating birth records.

Sec 56

All judicial petitions for domestic adoption pending in court upon the effectivity of this Act may be immediately withdrawn, and parties to the same shall be given the option to avail of the benefits of this Act. Upon the effectivity of this Act and during the pendency of the establishment of the NACC, the functions relating to foster care, issuance of CDCLAA, and adoptions under Republic Act No. 11222 shall remain with the DSWD, specifically, its Program Management Bureau (PMB). In relation to domestic administrative adoption and inter-country adoption processes, a transition team composed of the DSWD and the ICAB shall act as the NACC. The ICAB Executive Director shall sit as Chairperson of the transition team, assisted by the DSWD-PMB Director as the ViceChairperson, Personnel of the DSWD involved in adoption services may be seconded to the transition team during the three (3)-year period. During this period, social workers already working with adoption cases may continue to perform all duties assigned to adoption social workers in accordance with the provisions of this Act. The functions of the RACCO shall, during the three (3)- year period, be performed by the DSWD field offices (FOs), specifically the Adoption Resource and Referral Units (ARRU) therein. The transition team shall provide technical assistance and policy guidance to personnel of the FOs in handling cases. A transitory team shall be created from the DSWD and the ICAB to ensure non-disruption of performance of functions and continued smooth delivery of services during the migration of all alternative child care functions and services to the NACC. During the transition period, all Orders of Adoption issued and signed by the ICAB Executive Director as chairperson of the transition team, upon the recommendation of its members, shall be approved by the Secretary of the DSWD, or his representative in the ICAB Board, within a period of ten (10) days from the issuance of said order: Provided, That if no action was taken by either the Secretary or his representative in the ICAB Board during the prescribed period, the Order of Adoption shall be deemed approved. Upon the establishment of the NACC not later than three (3) years from the effectivity of this Act, all applications, submissions, and petitions involving child care, including the pre-adoption and post-adoption services, pending before the PMB and the ICAB shall be immediately forwarded to the NACC, which shall perform its functions and powers under this Act. Thereafter, the appropriate personnel of the ICAB and the DSWD involved in alternative child care services shall be permanently transferred to the NACC. The relevant offices in the regional offices of the DSWD involved in alternative child care shall, hereafter, be converted into RACCOs. Upon the effectivity of this Act and before the establishment of the NACC, administrative adoption may be immediately availed of and the necessary guidelines to make the benefits of this Act immediately operative shall be included in the IRR.

Sec 57

Designation of the Second Week of June as Adoption and Alternative Child Care Week. - The second week of June of every year shall be designated as Adoption and Alternative Child Care Week.

Sec 58

The amount necessary for the implementation of the provisions of this Act shaU be included in the General Appropriations Act of the year following its enactment into law and thereafter.

Sec 59

The Secretary of the DSWD and the Executive Director of the ICAB, after due consultation with the PSA, DOJ, DILG, DepEd, DOH, DOLE. NBI, Philippine Association of Civil Registrars, Juvenile Justice and Welfare Council (JJWC), National Council on Disability Affairs (NCDA), DFA, PhilHealth, SSS, GSIS, CWC and the Office of the Solicitor General, and two (2) private individuals representing child-placing and child-caring agencies shall, within six (6) months from the effectivity of this Act, formulate the necessary guidelines to make the provisions of this Act operative: Provided, That guidelines to operationalize Section 56 of this Act shall be enacted within three (3) months from the effectivity of this Act.

Sec 60

Nothing in this Act shall affect any right of an adoptee acquired by. judicial proceeding or otherwise before the commencement of this Act.

Sec 61

If any provision or part of this Act is declared unconstitutional or invalid, the remaining parts or provisions not affected shall remain in full force and effect.

Sec 62

Republic Act No. 8552 and Republic Act No. 9523 are hereby repealed, and Republic Act No. 8043, Republic Act No. 11222, and Republic Act No. 10165 are amended accordingly. All laws, decrees, letters of instruction, executive issuances, resolutions, orders or parts thereof which are inconsistent with the provisions of this Act are hereby repealed, modified, or amended accordingly.

Sec 63

This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its publication in the Official Gazette or in a newspaper of general circulation. Other Laws Foundling Recognition and Protection Act RA No 11767 May 6, 2022 AN ACT PROMOTING THE RIGHTS OF AND PROVIDING GREATER PROTECTIONS TO DESERTED OR ABANDONED CHILDREN WITH UNKNOWN PARENTS, AMENDING FOR THIS PURPOSE ARTICLES 276 AND 277 OF THE REVISED PENAL CODE AND SPECIAL LAWS, RECOGNIZING THEIR STATUS AS NATURAL-BORN CITIZENS OF THE PHILIPPINES, PROVIDING PENALTIES AGAINST ACTS INIMICAL TO THEIR WELFARE, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Philippines in Congress assembled: